1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to plumbing fittings, and more particularly is a spacer and shim assembly and process for elevating the water closet ring of a toilet bowl.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the construction of new and renovated residential and commercial-buildings, the regulatory agencies of the locale in which the construction is taking place will place specific requirements on the construction. These requirements are regulated through the drawing approval, permit issuing, and inspection processes. Before any actual construction can begin on any job, all material must be ordered, and the various subcontracting trades must be scheduled so that each particular phase of the project contracted for by the subcontractors can be timely completed. In short, most aspects of any specific construction job are planned well in advance.
Today there are several problems associated with the installation of a closet ring of a toilet bowl in new and renovated building construction. The toilet bowl installation requires that the closet ring be installed at the finished floor level so that the wax seal is properly seated in the cavity of the toilet bowl base when the toilet bowl is installed in order to provide a proper seal against the waste water and sewer gases. This installation requirement is also a UPC (uniform plumbing code) requirement. Most plumbing tradesmen rely upon the carpentry trade to provide some type of floor buildup (typically a wooden spacing element) at the waste soil pipe location. The plumber later installs the closet ring.
This arrangement can be unsatisfactory in that the carpenter does not always provide a good fit for the waste soil pipe, and the necessity of coordinating between the two trades leads to significant added expense. Having the carpenter provide for the plumbing fixture can lead to at least two problems: (1) Because the subfloor or rough floor is usually made of plywood, when the cut for the closet ring flange is made, the plywood immediately adjacent the cut is weakened, sometimes visibly. The wood glue binding the plywood can fail so that the compressed material of the plywood separates. The integrity of the closet ring flange installation is therefore tremendously compromised. (2) A less than perfect fit for the closet ring flange installation will degrade with time and use. Any movement of the toilet bowl can overcome the seal, and result in corrosive waste water leakage. This corrosive waste water will quickly cause the toilet bowl mounting bolts to fail.
One example in the prior art is the xe2x80x9cStackable Soil Pipe Spacer Flangexe2x80x9d of Hodges, U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,224, issued May 28, 1991. The Hodges device attempts to meet the requirements of the UPC code language that states that a closet ring must be installed to finished floor height. The ring shaped spacers are stacked on top of an installed closet ring flange top surface in a quantity sufficient to bring the stack to finished floor height. Adding spacers on top of an installed closet ring flange is contrary to applicable building codes, and does not provide a suitably stable base for the toilet bowl.
A device that adopts a similar approach, and unfortunately embodies the same shortcomings as the Hodges device, is the xe2x80x9cMethod of Extending a Soil Pipe Flangexe2x80x9d of Prodyma, U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,910, issued May 24, 1983.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a spacer and shim device that raises a closet ring flange to a desired height to accommodate any type of flooring in a given installation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a base with maximum stability upon which to mount the toilet.
The present invention is a system utilizing multiple spacer and shim elements of uniform thickness. The spacer and shim elements nest together so as to raise the closet ring to the height required for the particular floor being used in a given application. The nested spacer and shim elements are placed on the rough floor and receive the closet ring mounting flange. Hemispherical bosses on an upper side of a lower spacer and shim element are received in detents in a lower side of a corresponding upper spacer and shim element so that the spacer and shim elements are held securely in their nested position so as to form a registered spacer/shim stack. The spacer and shim elements will typically be xc2xcxe2x80x3 thick.
The spacer and shim elements each include a central aperture designed to fit all commonly used closet ring flanges. The spacer and shim elements further include breakaway mounting tabs positioned about an outer circumference of the main body of the spacer and shim elements. The mounting tabs in conjunction with mounting adapter slots in the main body of the spacer and shim elements provide the flexibility for the spacer and shim elements to be used with any of the various toilet bowl base shapes in use in the industry.
An advantage of the present invention is that it is mounted underneath the closet ring of the toilet being installed, thereby providing a more stable base for the toilet than can be obtained with spacers and shims added above the closet ring.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the breakaway mounting tabs and the mounting adapter slots allow the spacer and shim element of the present is invention to be used with any model of toilet.
A still further advantage of the present invention is that the spacer and shim elements have locking elements to provide a secure, nested, registered conformation when the spacer and shim elements are stacked.